首页
外语
计算机
考研
公务员
职业资格
财经
工程
司法
医学
专升本
自考
实用职业技能
登录
外语
It is said that in England death is pressing, in Canada inevitable and in California optional. Small wonder. Americans’ life exp
It is said that in England death is pressing, in Canada inevitable and in California optional. Small wonder. Americans’ life exp
admin
2017-08-15
58
问题
It is said that in England death is pressing, in Canada inevitable and in California optional. Small wonder. Americans’ life expectancy has nearly doubled over the past century. Failing hips can be replaced, cataracts removed in a 30-minutes surgical procedure. Such advances offer the aging population a quality of life that was unimaginable when I entered medicine 50 years ago. But not even a great health-care system can cure death, and our failure to confront that reality now threatens this greatness of ours.
Death is normal; we are genetically programmed to disintegrate and perish, even under ideal conditions. We all understand that at some level, yet as medical consumers we treat death as a problem to be solved. Shielded by third-party payers from the cost of our care, we demand everything that can possibly be done for us, even if it’s useless. The most obvious example is late-stage cancer care. Physicians—frustrated by their inability to cure the disease and fearing loss of hope in the patient—too often offer aggressive treatment far beyond what is scientifically justified.
In 1950, the U.S. spent $12.7 billion on health care. In 2002, the cost will be $1,540 billion. Anyone can see this trend is unsustainable. Yet few seem willing to try to reverse it. Some scholars conclude that a government with finite resources should simply stop paying for medical care that sustains life beyond a certain age—say 83 or so. Former Colorado governor Richard Lamm has been quoted as saying that the old and infirm "have a duty to die and get out of the way", so that younger, healthier people can realize their potential.
I would not go that far. Energetic people now routinely work through their 60s and beyond, and remain dazzlingly productive. At 78, Viacom chairman Sumner Redstone jokingly claims to be 53. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor is in her 70s, and former surgeon general C. Everett Koop chairs an Internet start-up in his 80s. These leaders are living proof that prevention works and that we can manage the health problems that come naturally with age. As a mere 68-year-old, I wish to age as productively as they have.
Yet there are limits to what a society can spend in this pursuit. As a physician, I know the most costly and dramatic measures may be ineffective and painful. I also know that people in Japan and Sweden, countries that spend far less on medical care, have achieved longer, healthier lives than we have. As a nation, we may be overfunding the quest for unlikely cures while underfunding research on humbler therapies that could improve people’s lives.
The author uses the example of cancer patients to show that ______.
选项
A、medical resources are often wasted
B、doctors are helpless against fatal diseases
C、some treatments are too aggressive
D、medical costs are becoming unaffordable
答案
A
解析
本题可参照文章的第2段。从中可知,由于第三方为我们支付医疗费用,我们便要求别人为我们做一切可能的事情,尽管有时候是徒劳的。最明显的例子便是晚期癌症的护理。由于不能治愈这种疾病所导致的沮丧以及害怕病人失去希望,医生经常提供大胆的医疗方法——这些方法远远超过科学上所证实的合理标准。从第3段的内容可知,1950年,美国用于医疗保健的费用是127亿美元;2002年,费用达到15400亿美元。人人都知道这种趋势无法维持。有些学者断定——资源有限的政府完全应该停止为维持超过一定年龄的生命支付医疗保健费用。据此可知,美国没有利用好可利用的资源。A项与文意相符,因此A项为正确答案。
转载请注明原文地址:https://kaotiyun.com/show/3OFO777K
0
考博英语
相关试题推荐
Astrangethingabouthumansistheircapacityforblindrage.Rageispresumablyanemotionresultingfromsurvivalinstinct,b
Theappearanceoftheusedcaris_____.it’smuchnewerthanitreallyis.
Thedaywasbreakingandpeoplebegantogotoworksothemurdererwasunableto_____ofthebody.
Consumersandproducersobviouslymakedecisionsthatmoldtheeconomy,butthereisathirdmajor【C1】______toconsidertherole
positiondefineforgetfulfancykeybalanceimportanceunhealthylacksubjectope
ToproducetheupheavalintheUnitedStatesthatchangedandmodernizedthedomainofhighereducationfromthemid-1860’stot
Itmightbesupposedthatgreaterefficiencycouldbeachievedifseveralpeopleworkedtogethertosolveaproblemthanifonly
Therecentnewsofthesuccessfulcloningofanadultsheep—inwhichthesheep’sDNAwasinsertedintoanunfertilizedsheepe
IntheopinionofmanyAmericansandEuropeans,weonlybegantoreallyexploreourworldinthesixteenthcentury.Accordingto
Wheninhisrebelliousyears,thatiswhenhewassixteenoreighteen,FrankAnderson______goingaroundwithastrangesetofp
随机试题
教学大纲和教科书的编写通常采用()和()两种方法。
A.A期B.B期C.C期D.C2期E.D期大肠癌癌肿已穿透肠壁,伴肠系膜动脉结扎处淋巴结转移,在Dukes分期中属于
关于腹痛与相关痛证的鉴别诊断,以下哪一项不正确
激素敏感脂肪酶是指
建设工程项目施工安全技术措施计划中的安全生产责任制度指的是()。
下列关于压力加工的叙述中,正确的是( )。
如果集团项目合伙人认为,由于集团管理层施加的限制,使集团项目组不能获取充分、适当的审计证据,由此产生的影响可能导致对集团财务报表发表无法表示意见,集团项目合伙人应当视具体情况采取下列()措施。
定义:①国家赔偿:是国家对公民、法人和其他组织因国家机关和国家机关工作人员违法行使职权行为致使其合法权益受到损害而给予赔偿的法律救济制度。②行政补偿:是国家对公民、法人和其他组织因行政机关和行政机关工作人员合法行使职权行为或因公共利益需要致其合法权益受
政府职能既要有稳定性,又要有发展性。()
A、Shewasattackedbyrobbers.B、Shewasstoppedbyapoliceman.C、Shewasforcedtoenteraflyingsaucer.D、Shefainteddueto
最新回复
(
0
)